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Book Review: How To Launch the **** out of your E-book.

By Filed Under: Business Building, Products, Projects and Process, selling/marketing
book

I recently bought the $97.00 E-book/workbook by @ittybiz and @rockyourday called how to Launch the **** out of your E-book. First–the title.  As someone who wrote F#@% Therapy, I’m comPLETEly pro “nearly swearing,”  at people, so the ethos was about right.  The book is imperfect, but it more than paid for itself, and negative feedback is more valuable than positive feedback, I’m believable when I point out weaknesses.

First–if you’re going to launch an ebook–or anything else–do pay attention to this book.  It’s derived from other product launch material, and it’s got a solid, “todo” style approach.  It’s action oriented, highly specific and really solid information.  If you DO the steps, you’ll certainly recoup the $97 bucks they charge your paypal.  The info is out there, but this is a good, trusted filter that is a great stepping off point to successfully sell your ebook.    And the killer part is the worksheets, and the step-by-stepness of the thing.  It lays out pre-writing research, and making an information product that sells, building a list and other fundamentals that we all need on the internet.

HOWEVER…

and there are a couple of big”howevers…”

bookThere are some weaknesses.  My book (pictured right) didn’t exactly lend itself to the prewriting research.  I was making a manifesto, something suited for http://changethis.com more than it’s suited for “how to lose weight now,” types of products that comprise 80% of the ebook market.  It’s also got a lot of information on how to write an ebook, and this isn’t really what I happened to be looking for.    (Also, it seems that @rockyourday still has a dayjob, which is something that grates on me when you’re still tethered to the old world, I hope he quits tomorrow…but I’m biased severely and I DO think he IS a social media expert).

Also, there’s a failure to prioritize. I’m finding that reviews are killer, having inflammatory posts is killer, and Twitter can sell the book itself.  The rest of the stuff feels a lot like makework, stuff that’s not really needed, or can be outsourced/delegated effectively.  The marketing is where it’s at.

I’ll get myself to 1,000 copies in a couple of weeks…my goal is 10,000 copies in 270 days.  But…the ambition of the authors is to be simple, sturdy and profitable.  And there’s a roadmap to it, and they lay it out, but it feels like a JOB.  I wanna take over the world.  I want fans and friends running through walls carrying my banner.   I could write a practical guide like I once did for loan officer lead generation, but I was interested in putting the best I had out there.  If you’re doing a how to, this is the book.   For my own marketing, I wasn’t horrifically far off, and this book ‘filled in the gaps’ (post in forums, daily, twitter the @#%^ out of yourself).  It’s just…that I wanted to do more.  Think your own thoughts.  F#@% all the friction and drama that got us into the busted mess we’re in and work our asses off to make F#@%ing great things.

The one thing that’s right is that they get that marketing is a job.  You have to work to make something happen.  You have to follow up, you have to work hard, think hard, do cool thing to make stuff happen.  You’re not just gonna build it and have ‘em come, you’re gonna have to introduce yourself to people, grind out sales, and ensue that the work is done.

[[Affiliate Disclaimer: No affiliate links here.  My integrity is worth more than the $46 bucks or whathaveyou I will eventually get to the point where I'm doing links, but I generally think that people that put a bunch of affiliate links on their blog are thinking too small.  My blog is my brand.  And I have to be 100% behind something before I endorse it.  I think that my growing client base needs to know that I don't have nickels or dimes on the line.   There are times, like with Aweber, that I will hustle my affiliate link out there so I can get support and so I can get feature upgrades.  I've refered a dozen or so people there, and I don't think I have ever gotten any money (though that isn't their fault, I just never looked at my affiliate balances or whatever).]]

Freelaner Cold Calling Video Redux?

By Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing

Cold Calling For Freelancers Video

By Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing

We’re on the way to organizing the content for this into an e-book or a membership site.

But the bottom line for today:

When you call people, you’ve got equal business stature.

You’ve got something to add.

You are auditioning THEM as well as them auditioning YOU.

Client Intake: How To Make A Killer First Impression & More Sales.

By Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing

When I talk cold calling with people, they have a hard time understanding how I get away with doing so little and still get good results.   It’s becuse I’m thinking all the time.  I try really hard to improve my process.

MY client intake process for paid clients is 21 steps on basecamp, it’s printed and it sits next to my Imac, on the wall.   I make sure that I wow ‘em with a welcome letter that describes what’s going to happen, a clear understanding of hard deadlines, their expectations and requirements, and my own.   I want to make it super simple to do business with me, so however they give me the information is fine.  Even if they’re stuck in 1997 and insist on using faxes.

Some steps:

  • Welcome letter restating the project & deadline
  • Phone call or voice mail restating it to demonstrate understanding.
  • Mutual signed agreement in their box in minutes.
  • First deliverable, first 4 business hours.   (along with the other stuff).
  • Introduction to team members that are also on the project.
  • Reminders sent of their commitments same day.
  • Basecamp set up and calendared.

Not every job is a big one, but every job worth doing is worth processing for a lot of reasons: you get REALLY good at processing jobs when you practice, and even if you’re on a $200 job, everything is an audition for the next gig.  Everyhing is an audition, and even if it’s $300 bucks worth of work, Basecamp makes things easy, and you can be up and going damn near instantly.   Google Notebook, same deal, copy project to a new doc/spreadsheet and go from there.

Now, you ASK for a referral at project start.  “Since I’ve got this project solidly underway, I’m always trying to help more people–is there anyone that needs me to do X?”  Low key, simple, obvious.    It’s sales.  It’s just asking killer questions, showing you care.   The beginning is a surefire way to demonstrate virtuosity.  Here are some simple rules:

  • NEVER EVER EVER make a client repeat themselves. Even if you have other team members.  I use skype to (with permission) record m calls for design interviews, especially when I’m not actually doing the work (most of the time).   We all get that there are multiple people working on something, but seriously, nothing says bad experience like that.  When I’m asked to repeat myself ,I always wonder: what’s going to be faster, repeating myself or finding someone professional.
  • Always rephrase what you’re understanding the project to be.
  • ALWAYS restate terms, delivery dates and payment triggers.  “Ok, so we’re on the same page, $3500 upfront, $1,000 when x happens, and $2,000 when y happens, with X happening before the 15th, and payment due on the 20th”.   Freelancers are ham fisted about money, and don’t communicate expectations clearly, and then get annoyed when clients don’t pay when they imagined they would.

What is your client intake process?    How many referals are you generating at that time?  Even on little jobs?  How many compliments on ‘being an excellent communicator,’ do you get?  Note: this takes WAY WAY less time than fielding ‘where’s my stuff,’ calls.

If you’re not getting many, your results are poor, and you need to rethink the way you’re doing things.

Sonia Simone at Copyblogger Misses the Boat, Big, With the Tribes Post.

By Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing

I don’t know why Brian Clark and the Copyblogger people are going on this high school motif. Yes, there is differentiation and branching off going on in the Internet right now.   Yes, the rules are evolving on how we make money.  Yes, the “Fresh off The Used Car Lot” types are here. Yes, there are groups of people that are not communicating with others.  Normal, human, don’t you think?

Sonia talks about how–ultimately–there are cool kids vs. Internet marketers.   The cool kids get attention and the IM crowd gets paid.   I get paid on the Internet.  I’m not getting private jet money–but I do very OK thankyouverymuch.   I…am in a tribe obsessed with human connection.   You know, the one that didn’t get mentioned…the one that uses Facebook.  The one that gets more and more leverage.  Oh, sure, I did the book thing and made money selling ebooks, and I’m launching the **** out of my next ebook. I’ll do six figures from F#@% Therapy, if I hustle.

But ultimately, my income and security will be found in a third way–by connecting to people I meet on the Internet.   No mention of that tribe.  I’m working towards getting rich.   I’m working towards running around with a cool group of people.  Helping things grow to a higher and higher level, getting cool things made, cool people connected with, and keeping it REAL.

By growing my social media presence in depth, I, too am an Internet marketer.  I am an unlimited freelancer, an unlimited salesperson.   Sure, I get a little rush when my Blackberry pings from my e-junkie account  And sure, I’m probably missing the boat by not putting affiliate linkseverywhere.

But…you don’t have to worry about my motivations.  If I tell you that HeapCRM is the best thing since ACT 6.0, you can bet your sweet ass I mean it and why.  I don’t lend my reputation to anyone, unless the product is F#%@ing great.  You’re not thinking I’m going to be after some affiliate commission.   I care about people, and it’s making me rich. I’m not saying that Brian and Sonia don’t care.   I am saying that the best way to sell on  Internet is to build your  robust social media presence and sell to it, protect it, guard it, and add more value to it than anyone else can.

That’s the easiest way to make big cash on the Internet, and all it takes is caring, using Facebook, connecting and….helping.  The best part is that the skills from both crowds come in handy.  The cool kids crowd can help ya get an audience, and the IM crowd can help you sell.   Provided that you care, you’re beyond contempt.

GenuineChris Video Post: Freelance Sales Stuff Cold Calling For Freelancershow

By Filed Under: selling/marketing

Just don’t insult us all by asking how you are doing…!

610 WTVN POST: Introduction To Social Media, Blogging and 2.0 Stuff.

By Filed Under: Achieving Goals, selling/marketing

This is a special post for those people that are listening in to the radio deli on NewsTalk 610 WTVN.   Welcome to the blog, for those that are getting here from google or wherever.   Glad you’re here.

Web 2.0 is made up a combination of tools that helps you tell your story online, and to bring more of your personality online.   You can reconnect with people that you know, you can connect with your customers, and you can easily tell your story with words, pictures and video online.

The biggest opportunity there is for author originated content.   You are telling your own story.  You’re being real.  You’re being yourself, and real people love it that.  The biggest mistake people make is to try to be all things to all people, to not let their real personality come through online.  You won’t win if you’re not yourself.

I make my living on the web, doing everything from helping people get online and teaching the selling e-books to building websites.   All of the stuff I do is easy.  I’m not particularly technical.  You don’t have to be to do an amazing job online, to find all the opportunity that is there for you.  You just have to find a way to tell your story.  If you do the best job on video, great.  If you do the best job in writing?  Great.  If you do the best job just causally putting your observations out there on Twitter?  Great.

People are craving authentic, real voices right now.   And you’ve got a chance to be that voice for them, to connect, to hustle.  To find the people that need what you do, and to serve at the highest level possible.

I’ve created a ‘getting started,’ newsletter with a little bit of homework each week that will take you from a beginner to someone that’s profitable on the web.  I’m giving it away, free, if you give me your email, and name in the box below:

Feel free to email me at chris@genuinechris.com for more questions.  If you’re more of a ‘phone,’ person, feel free to call me at 614-312-1941.

Jack Bauer, 24, DiSC, Prospero & Other Thursday Ramblings.

By Filed Under: miscellany, selling/marketing
24.  I have a love-hate relationship with the show.   I hate the notion that the answer to everything is torture.  The same government that can’t be trusted to run a post office from a monopoly position has no business deciding when to torture people, ever.  They have proven themselves incompetent, time and time again, and they have occasionally proven themselves unethical.

I did love it though: I loved the first season, its novelty.  I love the excitement, the pacing.  I love the real time(ish) nature.  I love how preternaturally competent Jack Bauer is.  A chemist, bomb expert, computer expert, hand to hand, mechanic.   I loved how he performed some type of “killing Russians” help-desk action aboard a submarine.  I love the linear focus ruthlessness. At least part of me does.

DiSC Profiling

I’ve been thinking and messing with the DiSC profiling system sinc probably 2003-2004.  Howard Brinton, Star Power does DiSC stuff.  It’s a quick shortand for typing people, and the shorthand often works.  It’s not perfect. Over-labeling people dehumanizes them.   DiSC has been called other things.  (BOLT, ETC), but the basic premise is this:

D- Dominance.  Classical Type A.  My way/high way,
i – Influence.  Artsy type, wants to be the life of the Party.
S- Supportive.  Think: people pleasing, maybe submissive. (always thought supportive was submissive.)
C- Contentious.  Analytical.  To a fault.  Loves them some rules.

So, Jack Bauer is a D.  A machine, do whatever it takes, break the rules, bend the world to my will.  I’ll torture, the mission, the objective is all that matters.  I’ll cut you open, if you have one nugget of information.  I’ll rack up a body count.  Whatever it takes.

I’ve DiSC’d myself, and I generally identify with D and I.  Or I and D.  Depends on the day, the mood, and if my wife’s responded to me.   I used to want to be more D.  More of a ruthless bastard.  Now–not so much.  Oh, sure, when necessary, I’ll break ‘social conventions,’ to get my way.  If you cheat me, wrong me, or if you wrong a friend of mine, I’ll tear you in half.  Try it some time.  It’ll be fun.  Seriously.

Debt Collection Methods for the Insane.

Quick example: guy cheated me out of cash, was a Realtor.  Cost me $5400 bucks through his own deceit.   Same Realtor® had 14 listings.  Same Realtor® happened to have beaten the hell out of his mom, his first wife, and his second wife.  A copy of the court records and a cancellation form for everyone.  How unfortunate. For reasons unrelated to beating the shit out of women, this dude is no longer a Realtor® because he has landed in Jail.  As an aside: I would not do this these days, I was 26 or 27, and this was kind of a fun art project.  It didn’t get me anything, but it was seriously fun to watch his listings drop off his MLS.

I did collect on my last debt by using ruthless methods.  I was shorted big cash, and i had it in minutes by being the most important event in the debtor’s life.  It took little time using modern tools to, and an anxious story to get everyone in his office complex knocking on his door, letting him know that I wasn’t kidding.  D’s count on that, and if you can convince them that you’ll go as far as it takes, they’ll acquiesce.  I am not kidding.  I don’t go to war often. OK sure, the method used was illegal.  I don’t care,  it is also illegal to charge back a credit card after you’ve had your cash refunded.   It’s also illegal to drop a deal after you run out of money.   Side note:  ths was way, way more than a simple misunderstanding.   This was a corrupt sociopath that I damn well should have avoided.

A written agreement–as Austin Realtor Eric Bramlett suggested…would NEVER have solved anything.  Sociopaths are not really bound by what they said, put in writing, promised, vowed, or affirmed.   I’m a heartbeat away from being a sociopath.  It’s a daily battle. I’m winning currently.

A Life Past Type A

Back to Jack, though, cause he’s the subject header, and I just used Hulu to catch up on 24.   He’s ruthless, and this season has him even more so.  D personality.  F#@% the rules, it’s time to go to war.

Now…a D type has some place in the world.  When you’re trying to hit a deadline or achieving a goal, it works.  Channeling some ‘whatever it takes,’ into your brain helps a ton.   When you’re trying to deal kindly with people?  Well, let’s leave that personality at home.  When you have to build teams, you need some I and some S.

D b.s. doesn’t work.   It pulls you into drama land.  “How Dare You Do This To Me,” crap.  I’ve been there, and I’m mostly gone from that world.  Mostly.  I think that the “D” type was the baby boomer personality.

I wrote a book about mostly that.   Which will be live tomorrow, it’s for sale now, but the website looked like it was done by a kindergartner.  In 1997.  More later, as is always the case on teh inter-web.

Who’s on your board of directors? Please Tell Me!

By Filed Under: Products, Projects and Process, selling/marketing

Who’s on your board of directors?

One of the things I did last fall was to create–on my wall, in my space and in plain sight, a board of directors.   We’ve all heard the exercise, have inspiring people out there so you can make sure that you’re plugged into the best things that the best people are saying.  I’ve put up a wall full of people, mostly men, that I’ve long admired, thought of and wanted to learn from.

If I could get advice from anyone in the world, who would it be?   Mostly, it’s people from history (George Washington, Winston Churchill), but there are contemporary people like David Allen , Seth Godin, Scott Adams and Randy Pausch. And I’ve done that for a while now, but I’ve not blogged about it.

I’ve been thinking and producing more lately (go buy a mac if you want to be productive, really), and trying to take my act to the proverbial next level.   I want to do stuff that my grandkids are proud of, as recent addition to my board “Gary Vaynercuck ” says.

Now, I’m not delusional.  These people don’t talk to me all “Coldwell Banker” style.   But what I can gain from, say looking up at Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan is that you gotta focus and work.  Or from Oprah–that I’m a survivor and not a victim.  The achievements of people I think are really cool is fun.   Working on something till the effort is good enough for Steve Jobs, for example is a daunting task.   But, that’s what it’s there for.  Being good enough for the coolest and best, an getting out of the pull of gravity.

So let me know something–who is on your personal “board of directors.”  Let me know in the comments.

Each Tuesday I’ll be listing and profiling my board of directors, alternating between the living and the dead.   There are over 90 right now, a portion of them is here.   I put ‘em on foam board so I could take them with me when I travel.  I have yet to do so, but I do plan to move in a matter of a few months.

100_0931

So tell me in the comments Who’s on your board of Directors…!

Bad Deals In The Freelancer World. What Would You Do?

By Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing

I got hosed.  Hammered, even, by someone who wanted to be a client of my nascent business.  I was asked to do & organize work for a guy who was going to help his (honestly) used car, MLM, Real Estate and Mortgage businesses all at the same time.  Something didn’t jive–and not just because of the professions.

I couldn’t place it–there was something wrong with the approach, and I was uncomfortable.   Right now, though, I’m behind on my profitability goal.  I’ve made decent revenue this year, more than expected, but I’m not currently good at estimating jobs for subs.  (There is a lot of variance in small jobs.)   So, I’ve paid out about 70% of revenue, +/-, which has caused me some angst.   Like anything, it’s easy for a realtor to brag about their GCI…but piss it all away on ads.   It’s part of the process.  As I acquire skill, I’ll get out of it quickly…or at least that’s the hope.

There were questions that were a little off, and there was an attitude that was just a little wrong.   But still, we proceeded, and I was paid the initial deposit on time and without incident.  Generally, I follow the rule where you can be slow to pay or be a dick, but not both.   Still, I was uncomfortable, and I remember thinking specifically that there was something coming to bite me in the ass.

Two weeks go by and I’m on the hook for delivering a set of blogs.  The roadmap called, though, for him to have done some work.  I called for it.  “What, you don’t have my blog done?”   I blew it off–”remember, you needed to provide me with copy.”  “Let me see what you have.”

I had nothing. I knew I had nothing.  So I said, “I have nothing. We’re in waiting-on-you mode.”

“You took my money and haven’t done anything with it?  You #!%!ing thief.”

At that point, I was out.  Done.  I had sent reminders through basecamp and had done the setup accurately.  But I wasn’t going to be called a @$^ing anything.  I wrote the book on #@%$, anyway.

So I said, “I’ll just refund your money, and we’ll call it a day, fair enough.”

Fine, he said…but he’d need a check.

A check I provided, and then…

…he charged back his credit card.   For those of you who aren’t in merchant services and haven’t dealt with that, chargebacks are one of the things that customers do when they are extra pissy and claim that they’ve not gotten their work handled.  So, he got his check, and then claimed he never got the goods.

I called him, “Hey, this is pretty serious stuff here,”

“You’re just lucky I didn’t sue you,” he said.

Maybeso.  He hadn’t had too many plaintiff’s suits here in Franklin county.  And, if we’re going to get all mafia on people, I’m probably, honestly, the last guy who is to be crossed.

Sometimes I take the path most bloody and go there.  My instinct told me to get away from this guy, so I said, “I’m not negotiating, you need to call merch services and undo the chargeback, and say it was your fault.  This will become credit card fraud otherwise.”

I hung up.

And, I did have to deal with him one more time on a conference call with Paypal.  I ate about $80 worth of junk fees, had my PP account tied up for about 10 days…while the drama played out.

The whole thing was my fault.

I knew the guy was off.  I don’t know how I knew, but I knew.  I knew that this was going to end badly, and I needed to be gone.  The problem was that this was a job where 85% of the revenue woulda stayed with me.

So let me ask you:

[poll id="2"]

The other thing I’d like to know is this:  How can you detect when a deal is going awry?

Cold Calling For Freelancers: Video Podcast Thing

By Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehZqoZTaY-4[/youtube]

I’m going to talk a little more coherently about cold calling for freelancers as time goes on this week, stay close by.

More on this tomorrow.

Rejection and Cold Calling In Social Media

By Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing

First, check out my Twitter page.  http://genuinechris.com/twitter. It’s what you get if you follow me on Twitter.

It does mean something every time I get rejected. Every time I’m not included, it stings a little. I don’t know if that accumulates like mercury poisoning or not, but I do know that it’s never pleasant..  But I’m doing it anyway, no matter what.  Because the alternative is being ignored, and I’ll go broke.  And when you wade through rejections, you find good or great people in between.

I understand why people try to use 2.0 stuff in a way. Always needing but never asking. Always sort of working but never trying, never…putting themselves out there.  Always anxious, almost working, procrastinating, letting tasks build up and frittering away hours on these sites.

Exhausting.

…and the same people cluck  like a hen when I suggest that they pick up the phone and call someone. “I…” they say “would never cold call.” You meet people on line. Facebook calls ‘em ‘friends.’ But how many people have you actually talked to, called, offered to help? How many people know you personally? 1016? All 2400? It’s unlikely. It’s more likely that you mass add anyone you can.

I did it too, and now I’m stuck with this big morass of mostly strangers that laughed at a joke I told once. Or didn’t laugh but added me or vice versa because we all have one or two friends in common. And I can’t help them, really, I can’t connect them to the good people that I know and like. So I’m calling to get to know them. And you better believe–since this website is deliberately devoid of what I do–that I’ll be pitching them a little.

If they’re your friends, they’ll help you and you’ll help them. You’ll do them favors and vice versa. Else, what’s the point? In the hope that someday some status update or tweet will connect? Right now, I have too many ‘friends,’ and not enough ‘connections.’ People that I can call on for help.

I figure I need an ever improving list of 10-12 amazing clients. By amazing, I mean world class! I’ll continue to work and build my practice till I’m there.

Modified GTD: More On Personal Production.

By Filed Under: Business Building, Products, Projects and Process, selling/marketing

So, I’m taking it to the next level.  I’ve gotten my book finished, and the ‘marketing’ stuff is no longer a precondition to do other things.  I can branch out a little, which is good.

But, right now, let’s look at the things I have to do on a regular basis.

-create a SEO singing blog for my therapy alternative book.

-Create about 18 blog posts/week between here, http://rightrightnow.com (so not up yet), and the 3-4 guest posts I want to write.

-Get my adipose problem solved.

Now, to do this, I have a simple tool.  One task list, one piece of paper for daily actions & basecamp.  I haven’t ‘finished’ this daily form yet, i’ll give it some thought & a week.  But it has me making the calls and suchlike that I need.

What I made:

weekly-scorecard

Now, this gives me a sense of what I’ve done, and committed to.  I’ve got an ‘action stack,’ each day where everything is planned and I know where I’m going with my life on a regular basis.

It’s not yet perfect, but this is 2.0, and what is?  Everything is in beta.

So, I use two sheets of paper a day.  I guess I should probably put it on the other side of this.  I don’t comute, so sop lecturing me bout being green.

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